Welcome to site!

When the Peace Corps car dropped me and my stuff off at site and drove away, leaving me on my own in Mozambique for the first time, despite that I’d been looking forward to this moment for a long time, I’d prepared myself to feel utter panic. I’d expected to be overwhelmed by the enormity of this decision I’d made, agreeing to live for two years in a small, remote village in central Mozambique without electricity or running water, and with only a basic knowledge of Portuguese. I’d expected to feel the terror of this sudden isolation and independence.

Instead, I felt- well, kind of hungry. Hey, it was 2:30pm and we hadn’t stopped to eat all day.

Luckily though, I had been able to buy some ‘take-away’ chicken and rice in Molócue. So as soon as the director and my host-parents left to let me settle in, I sat on the stiff couch in the living room and dug in.

I took stock of the house. It’s not actually my house, since mine is still being built, but it’s where my sitemate Gabriela lives. She was gone on vacation and would be away until January, so in the meantime I could stay in her house. In a lot of ways I’m actually really grateful I got to spend my first weeks there, because it meant I got to live right next to my host family, who have been a huge help. Already before I’d arrived they had made sure all the water buckets in the house were all filled, so that I wouldn’t need to worry about carrying water from the pump across the street myself for at least a few days. When they found out I’d brought a solar panel with me, they also helped me set it up and showed me the best place to put it alongside the house to get the most sun.

Water buckets in the kitchen

The water pump across the street, where I get all my water

Water pump from a distance

View of the house (red and white) from the water pump

The house I'm currently living in- just got a new paint job!

The main road, which is lined with mango trees for literally miles in both directions

My solar panel charging up

In any case, the house was already well set-up- plenty of food in the kitchen and charcoal for cooking- plus I’d brought some groceries of my own. The bathroom has a real toilet (though only flushes by manually pouring a bucket of water down it) and sink, the living room has couches and a bookcase full of books and magazines left from several generations of previous volunteers.

After about an hour, the director returned and took me on a short tour of town. We visited the school, only a minute’s walk down the road. Then we walked off the main road a bit, though the neighborhoods to meet some of the other teachers who were hanging out outside their houses. We saw my future house, still under construction, which had me a little worried since it didn’t look any different from pictures I’d seen which had been taken two months ago. Still, the director promised I’d be able to move in by Christmas in a couple weeks. (Note: as of this day, January 18, as I sit writing this, I still have not moved in. In Mozambique, delay is inevitable.)

We returned to the main road and walked the rest of the way through town, past the police station, the administrative office, the hospital, and finally, at the far end of town, to the mercadinho,  the little market where it’s possible to buy the occasional produce and other small essentials. The mercadinho also had my favorite view so far of the mountains surrounding Nauela. All throughout the walk back home I couldn’t stop flipping out about how beautiful this whole place was.

Near some administrative buildings on the main road

Oh also NAUELA HAS A FRICKING CASTLE IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN no big deal...

The view from the mercadinho. Not the best weather or camera for it- I'll try to get a better picture later

Finally, I returned home. My host-sisters, Dulce and Albertina, were sitting out in front of the house, collecting mangoes from the tree in the front yard. I figured I should start making dinner before it got too dark. I took the charcoal and stove outside, and then realized that I didn’t have any matches. I looked all over the house, but couldn’t find any. Luckily, my host family lives literally in the backyard, so I estou a pedir-ed (asked) them for a lit piece of charcoal to get my stove going. Pai Janeiro happily got my stove lit for me and I found a pan in the kitchen to get some rice started. While the rice cooked I chopped up some tomatoes and garlic to add to it.

Looking out the back side of the house, with a view of my host family's house and what I have lovingly dubbed Monster Mountain, due to the little eyes/horns/ear tufts it has on top.

The back porch, where I cook- unless it's raining super hard and the whole porch basically floods

I thought about trying to cook something else to go with the rice, but I was getting really tired and my head was pounding. I had made way too much rice, so I offered some to my host family, which they readily accepted. All I really wanted was to eat quickly and go to bed to relax, but this seemed like a good time actually talk with my host family a bit. I sat with mãe Velosa outside their house in the dark as we ate, and asked her some questions. It turns out she’s a retired primary school teacher, and she told me a bit about the rest of the family as well, like the fact that her daughter Dulce just graduated 12^th grade, which is a pretty great accomplishment out here, especially since Dulce has an eight-month-old baby.  

Eventually, I went back inside and dug out my rechargeable flashlight get ready for bed. I had never been so relieved to finally crawl under my mosquito net for the night. The director had mentioned several times that Nauela is a safe town- both violent crimes and theft are rare. One of the previous volunteers even used to leave the back door open at night so her cat could go in and out. Especially with my host family living ten feet away, despite the dark and being alone in the house, I felt completely safe. All in all, though I was too tired to completely appreciate it in the moment, I was unbelievably happy to have been placed in this beautiful and friendly site.